when florida “Opened up the gates of hell” - Florida Humanities ...

h u m A n
alive!
i T i E S
FhC Board elects two
new members
FHC’s Board of Directors has elected
two new members to replace two
whose terms recently expired. The
new members, who will serve through
September 2012, are:
DEbORAH kyNES, a lawyer and
former Dunedin City Commissioner
who has spent more than 25 years as
a civic leader in
Pinellas County.
Her work has
included serving
as chair of the
Pinellas County
Arts Council, the
Pinellas Suncoast
Transit Authority,
and the Tampa Bay
Regional Planning
Council. She has a
Deborah Kynes
bachelor’s degree
in English from
the University of
Arkansas and a juris doctorate from the
University of Tulsa.
ANDREw H. McLEOD, director
of government affairs for The Nature
Conservancy’s Florida Chapter, has
spent most of his career in public
service. He worked on the staffs of
two U.S. Senators
and former U.S.
Rep. Jim Leach,
current NEH
chair. McLeod
has a bachelor’s
degree in history
and religion from
George Washington
University, a
master’s degree in
national security
Andrew McLeod
studies from
Georgetown
University, and a master’s degree in
public administration from Harvard
University. He is on the boards of
the Florida Earth Foundation and
the Tallahassee Trust for Historic
Preservation.
18 F O R U M F L O R I D A H U M A N I T I E S C O U N C I L
Remembering Peggy Bates
The FHC community was saddened to learn of the death of Margaret L.
“Peggy” Bates, who served on the FHC Board from 1992 to 1996. Ms. Bates,
a political science professor for more than three decades at New College of
Florida, was known at FHC for her dedication as a board member.
“Peggy was an active and engaged member of our board whose fierce
intellect and passion for the humanities was demonstrated at every board
meeting,” said FHC Executive Director Janine Farver. “She was always available
to hone the intellectual content of our programs and gave of her time and
energy with such generosity.”
Ms. Bates was a scholar of African politics and history and of
international relations and law. In addition to teaching, she served as interim
provost of New College from 1989 to 1992. After retiring, she was named
professor emerita of political science in 1996. She died of a heart ailment in
September at age 85.
Peggy Bates
PrimeTime reading program to
serve families in four libraries
FHC is partnering with four public libraries
this spring to present PrimeTime, a free, six-week
literacy program that uses the humanities as tools to
create excitement about reading. Combining awardwinning
children’s books with humanities themes
and open discussion, PrimeTime connects literature
to the real world for participating families.
About 75 families are expected to participate
this spring at West Oaks Library in Ocoee, Bruton
Memorial Library in Plant City, the Venice Public
Library, and Bradham-Brooks Northwest Library in Jacksonville.
Support for these programs has been generously provided by Target, the Rice Family
Foundation, Publix Super Markets Charities, and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice.
Log-on to www.flahum.org/primetime for additional information.
nEh Chair Jim Leach brings message of civility to Florida
“Civilization requires civility,” says Jim Leach, chair of the National Endowment for
the Humanities. “Words matter. Polarizing attitudes can jeopardize social cohesion.” Leach
brought this message about the need for civility in public discourse to two Florida cities in
January as part of his 50-state Civility Tour.
Leach spoke in Tallahassee at a public meeting co-sponsored by FHC and a local
civic group named The Village Square. He also spoke in Sarasota at a national conference
of museum directors. Leach’s message has been well received at a time when much of the
nation’s public discourse has been rancorous.
“We can use words ‘to bring out our better angels’ or we can use them dishonestly to
confuse and undermine each other,” Leach said at the Tallahassee gathering, according to
an account in the Tallahassee Democrat. “When it comes to the
rivalry of ideas…our choice is to ‘stir anger, polarize and compel
violence’ with what we say. Or, conversely, we can use ‘healing
language’ such as Lincoln used in his second inaugural address,
inspiring the nation to bind up its Civil War wounds ‘with
malice toward none.’”
Leach, appointed in August by President Barack Obama as
NEH’s ninth chair, was a Republican member of Congress from
Iowa for 30 years. After leaving Congress in 2007, he taught at
Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School and served as
interim director of the Institute of Politics and lecturer at the
John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Jim Leach